A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of public goals: This essentially means that everyone within a certain discourse community is there for a specific purpose upon which the group is based. A personal example would be my experience in Scouting and becoming an Eagle Scout. Every aspiring Eagle scout was there for the common goal of gaining leadership experience and life skills such as first aid.

A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members: This means that a discourse community has processes and methods by which they communicate with each other. A personal example from my time in marching band would be that there was a Facebook page and phone tree established to make sure every member can be communicated with.

A discourse Community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback:  This means that the purpose of the group’s communications methods is to share information and get feedback. Again with the band example, the purpose of the Facebook page and phone tree is to make sure every member has all required information and can respond to communications to their leaders.

A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims: This means that the community consistently uses communication to evaluate itself such as the topics of discussion and the form/function. An example of this from scouts is that the troop leadership is always talking about ways to improve.

In addition to  owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis: Communities develop specific terminology, slang, and acronyms that refer to things within the field. An example from band is the various acronyms and terminology we use such as DM, SL, KP, JDM, inspection, shako, dress blues, corps whites, baldric, etc.

A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise: Another example from band is the fact that membership in band requires knowledge of how to play an instrument going in. Then, you are taught to march and stand at attention etc. These skills improve throughout the four years until you are “an expert” and can pass this on to the freshman as a squad leader.

Letter to Rat:

Dear Rat,

It is important to understand discourse communities. Discourse communities are groups of people bound by a common goal with set standards and protocols for membership and communication that regularly evaluates itself for self improvement. It is important to understand discourse communities at VMI because VMI has many discourse communities. The largest one is the Corps of Cadets, it perfectly fits the definition with its unique goals of preparing cadets for life. It has unique lexis with terms such as dyke, BRC, SRC, etc. Other discourse communities at VMI include your major as well as extracurriculars.